Is there anything more rewarding than discovering new talent? At Institute, we are always on the lookout for those ingenious gems on the verge of some sort of greatness. We also recognize that as eager as we are to help these artists, we selfishly thrive on their creative energy—we need them as much as they need us.

As current sonic obsessions go, we’re head over heels about The Maccabees these days. Already a sizable force in their native UK, the five members that make up the indie rock outfit—Orlando Weeks, brothers Felix and Hugo White, Sam Doyle and Rupert Jarvis—are quickly gaining momentum on a global scale. With their new album, Given to the Wild, we find the band shining at their brightest and most beautiful. This fall, the lads will embark on a much-anticipated U.S. tour in support of Florence + the Machine. For this young, still growing band, the sky is the limit.

Institute: Walk us though the process of choosing a name for the band. Was there an overall concept that you had in mind?

Orlando: We didn’t really have a concept. We were just trying to find something that sounded different. We had some bad ideas initially. [Laughs] A friend of ours happened to flip through the biggest book he could find in the room and picked a word out of a random page with his eyes closed. That’s how we got the name.

Institute: It literally could’ve been anything.

Orlando: It could’ve been. [Laughs]

Institute: It’s like getting a tattoo almost. You make this decision and live with it forever.

Orlando: I guess it’s like getting a tattoo in that sense, but you learn to live with it and commit to it. At the end of the day, it’s just a name.

Institute: What can you reveal about your writing process? Is it a spontaneous thing or do you have a set routine?

Orlando: Originally, we were just hashing stuff out. With this new record, everyone was recording things and sending stuff to each other. It was less claustrophobic in that way. I think we’ve seen both sides of the coin now. I think we’re going to aim for the middle ground with each new album where we play live to each other as opposed to making demo recordings. You have these scribbling of ideas, sometimes for things that you never thought would make it onto the record, but they end up making it onto the record by happy accident. We’re trying to find that balance.

Institute: What were some of the initial discussions that you had as a band about this new album Given to the Wild? Did you want to explore certain themes?

Orlando: I don’t want to disappoint you and don’t know if you interview bands where you have these big discussions about what the context is going to be for a record, but I feel like we’re far too disorganized to have those kinds of discussions We’re writing all the time and come from different starting points. Once we go through a filtering process, it’s just the way it is. That’s what our band sounds like.

Institute: This new album is not only beautiful, but every song seems to belong there. How do you find that kind of cohesiveness?

Orlando: You start with two or three songs that set the tone we’re all happy with. During the recording process, you try and persuade everyone that other songs feel like that. That was one of the biggest challenges with this. It was hard to get that cohesiveness and make it feel like a whole record. We didn’t want a collection of ideas and cherry pick from hundreds of hours of recording that we had done individually.

Institute: How did you all come to meet each other?

Orlando: I’ve known Felix since he was about 12 because he was my little brother’s best friend in school. Then I met his brother Hugo. We all lived within a 20-minute walk of each other growing up. South London is a smaller community than you might think. Everyone seems to know everyone somehow.

Institute: What’s the dynamic like in the band these days?

Orlando: At the moment… I don’t know. Our bus almost crashed over the weekend. We were camping out at a UK airport because there weren’t any planes flying out. There’s plenty of stuff for us to kind of work through together in that sense. You know when to leave someone alone, put them on your shoulder or take them out for a drink.

Institute: Going from obscurity to notoriety as a band, what has surprised you?

Orlando: That’s a big question. I don’t know… You stumped me there.

Institute: Were there any unforeseen instances that surprised you along the way?

Orlando: I guess I just try not to be surprised ever. At the end of the day, we choose to do this because we’re our own masters. One of the nice things is that there are the four of us and we can share everything together. Anything that comes as a shock or a surprise, you can even it out a little bit in that sense.

Institute: I was talking to Felix about this briefly when you guys were in New York: is it jarring to perform to 10,000 people at Alexandra Palace one day and come here and you’re at Webster Hall playing to maybe 300 people?

Orlando: Not at all! I say this because it’s true. We could have a terrible gig playing to 10,000 people and have an amazing time at Webster Hall. It can have so little to do with the number of attendees and have so much to do with the atmosphere. A gig is a gig. The numbers don’t really play into how good or bad it goes if that makes any sense.

Institute: What’s normally going through your mind when you’re up onstage?

Orlando: At the start I’m hoping that nothing breaks and then I’m hoping I don’t forget the lyrics. Quite often I’ll spot someone who seems to be having the best time or the worst time in the audience. Depending on how I’m feeling at the moment I’ll decide to concentrate on either or. But I try not to do that normally and not think at all.

Institute: Can you recall something unexpected that you’ve seen in the crowd while playing a show?

Orlando: I’m not good with those kinds of questions. [Laughs]

Institute: It’s never easy putting yourself out there, in any creative pursuit. It’s so easy to want to distance yourself from something you made that speaks to a totally different point in your life. Does this ever come as a worry?

Orlando: I don’t listen to any of our old stuff. I think I’ve listened to all of our albums collectively maybe once or twice. When we were writing our first record, I could see how self-conscious I was about my voice, but I’m less self-conscious about it now. All you can do is look at what you’ve done before and what you felt comfortable with. What did I take pleasure from? You just want more of the same things that satisfied you. If there’s a way to express something that you’re uncomfortable with, you’re going to do it again. I try to find what made me happy before and repeat that.

Institute: Do you road test songs before heading into the studio?

Orlando: With this new record we didn’t do that at all. In the past, we wrote songs and played it live before going into rehearsals to see what made everyone start yawning or whatever it was. [Laughs] I think that’s why this record sounds so different. We were thinking about how it would sound live after it was all done and over with.

Institute: You guys tour a lot. How does something like travel influence your music?

Orlando: Our last record was recorded on our tour bus. Some of the broad stuff was recorded while we were traveling from this place to that place. Sam is working on something at the moment that was inspired by the sounds that a crossing sign made in Australia. [Laughs] I don’t know how much travel really plays into it, but considering the breadth of the world we’ve seen, it has to inform the music in some way.

Institute: How did Florence + the Machine enter the picture? How is it that you got to know Florence and you’re now gearing up for a tour together in America?

Orlando: It was through a singer friend, this really sweet man that we know. He knew her because he shared management with her I think. I think they went to school together. Then I started bumping into her at different things. I was astounded by her as a performer and her extraordinary voice. I’d done some work for the people in charge of putting together the artwork for her album Lungs and this guy suggested me. I made her lungs look like old punch bags on the album cover art.

Institute: It’s striking imagery. It really grabs you.

Orlando: It’s a really beautiful photo.

Institute: What are you most looking forward to when it comes to this upcoming tour with Florence in America?

Orlando: I hope that Florence feels like she chose well. If she goes away thinking that we were the right fit, I’ll feel happy.